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> and I doubt Europe alone will ever have the military might necessary to defend its sovereignty against a possible Russian-Chinese-Iranian axis. That's mostly
by RetroTechie 3y ago
> and I doubt Europe alone will ever have the military might necessary to defend its sovereignty against a possible Russian-Chinese-Iranian axis.
That's mostly a political/budget choice.
US: what, a bit over 300M people? EU: some ~550M? Both advanced economies.
US military might is a result of budget, raw manufacturing capability, and a glut of defense-related industry. Which (obviously) also sells their warez abroad.
No fundamental reason the EU couldn't obtain similar capabilities. But EU countries simply chose to outsource much defense design & manufacturing, apply a smaller budget, and rely on the US in several ways.
I'm sure some of this was regretted since Russia-Ukraine war started. Not sure if (given time) that's enough to bring EU up to military self-sufficiency.
- zolbrek 3y agoI agree, and I don't think the EU will be able to militarize to the degree required in the coming years. The language differences and the individual militaries of the various EU countries make coherency on the field more complicated than it is for the US, and only a fraction of European soldiers participate in NATO exercises.